Although Petroleum Engineering Grid officially started up in late 2009, it is already a classic example of how research projects can have unexpected benefits.

PEGrid came into existence using techniques and tools created by TIGRE (Texas Internet Grid for Research and Education), a state-funded project based on the use of federally funded middleware such as Open Science Grid’s Virtual Data Toolkit.

When TIGRE ended in 2007, it left behind a grid software stack, three completed demonstration projects, and budding relationships with contacts in the air quality, biosciences, and petroleum engineering industries.

“What we did is to go to industry and ask what they needed,” said Alan Sill, a Texas Tech University researcher who led the TIGRE development team. Because the petroleum industry is well-funded, they decided to take their next step by creating PEGrid.

“What we’re trying to do with PEGrid is, using the technology that we have, to allow the best practices in industry and academics to be shared,” Sill said. “What we’ve found is that this isn’t being done.”